Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama, John Edwards, Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. Joe Biden have withdrawn their names from Michigan’s primary ballot.
Obama, Edwards and Richardson filed paperwork with the Michigan Secretary of State’s office to have their names removed, while Joe Biden issued a statement saying he would bypass the state’s primary, according to The Associated Press.
The withdrawal was done after Michigan moved its primary date to Jan. 15, violating the Democratic National Committee’s rules.
“We are very disappointed the candidates decided to remove their names,” said Jason Moon, communications director for the Michigan Democratic Party. “This is just another example of the damaging monopoly that Iowa and New Hampshire have on the early nominating process. They have basically blackmailed the candidates.”
The withdrawal of four of the candidates will leave Sens. Hillary Clinton and Chris Dodd, Congressmen Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel on the ballot.
“The bottom line is it’s not going to make any difference,” said Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics.
One way the primary could be affected is if Republican candidates decide there isn’t a significant presence of Democratic contenders, however that most likely wouldn’t happen, Ballenger said.
“All that will really happen is Hillary will emerge as a big winner and win uncontested,” he said. “It will be more interesting to see who wins the Republican (ticket) because it’s more of a contest.”
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